Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, in the Legislative Council today (May 23):
Question:
It has been reported that the Police implemented a two-month pilot scheme in New Territories North and Kowloon East at the end of last year, under which video cameras were used to assist police officers in taking law enforcement actions against six traffic offences which cause serious traffic obstructions, namely (i) picking up/setting down passengers in restricted zone, (ii) loading/unloading goods in restricted zone, (iii) unauthorised stopping at bus stop/public light bus stand/taxi stand, (iv) stopping bus, public light bus or taxi longer than necessary when picking up/setting down passengers, (v) unlawfully entering box junction, and (vi) "U" turn causing obstruction. Besides, the Energizing Kowloon East Office under the Development Bureau is conducting on-site tests on a Kerbside Loading/Unloading Bay Monitoring System (Monitoring System) in some sections of How Ming Street and Hoi Bun Road in Kwun Tong by making use of surveillance cameras installed on on-street lampposts to assist in monitoring the situation of the loading/unloading bays in these two road segments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of times for which law enforcement actions were taken by the Police under the pilot scheme, broken down by month and the police division to which the law enforcement location belonged;
(2) of the number of prosecutions instituted by the Police under the pilot scheme in respect of each of the aforesaid traffic offences, broken down by the police division to which the law enforcement location belonged;
(3) of the respective numbers of times for which the Police took law enforcement actions under the pilot scheme by ticketing the offenders on the spot and other forms, and the criteria adopted for determining the form of law enforcement action to be taken;
(4) of the criteria adopted by the Police for assessing the effectiveness of the pilot scheme, and the assessment outcome;
(5) as it has been reported that the authorities will expand the coverage of the pilot scheme to the whole territory within the first half of this year, whether the Police have formulated a detailed implementation plan; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) whether the authorities will consider using the Monitoring System to monitor the usage of and the illegal parking situation in the loading/unloading bays in the entire Kwun Tong district and the whole territory; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
To effectively combat traffic contraventions, the Hong Kong Police Force (Police) launched a two-month pilot scheme in New Territories North and Kowloon East in December 2017, under which video cameras were used to assist police officers in taking enforcement actions against six traffic offences which cause serious traffic obstructions (Pilot Scheme). The six offences are: (i) picking up/setting down passengers in restricted zone; (ii) loading/unloading goods in restricted zone; (iii) unauthorised stopping at bus stop/public light bus stand/taxi stand/public light bus stopping place; (iv) stopping public bus, public light bus or taxi longer than necessary when picking up/setting down passengers; (v) unlawfully entering box junction; and (vi) "U" turn causing obstruction.
My reply to the various parts of the Hon James To's question is as follows:
(1) The Police took a total of 103 actions under the Pilot Scheme. A breakdown of these actions by police district and month is set out at Annex 1.
(2) The Police issued a total of 540 fixed penalty tickets under the Pilot Scheme. A breakdown of these fixed penalty tickets for each traffic offence by police district is set out at Annex 2.
(3) In the course of the Pilot Scheme, the Police took 53 enforcement actions under the "immediate ticketing" mode and 50 enforcement actions under the "non-immediate ticketing" mode, issuing respectively 243 and 297 fixed penalty tickets.
The Police determined the most appropriate mode of ticketing as warranted. The factors taken into account included the safety of frontline officers and other road users, the volume of traffic on the road, the feasibility of stopping vehicles along the section of the road where enforcement actions were taken, the deterrent effects on offending drivers, as well as manpower deployment at the time.
(4) and (5) The Police have completed the two-month Pilot Scheme, and are currently assessing and reviewing its effectiveness and considering whether to further extend the Pilot Scheme. In reviewing the effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme, the Police will take into consideration whether the scheme can serve its purposes, including assisting frontline officers in more efficient enforcement, enhancing the reliability of evidence, boosting the effectiveness of enforcement and conviction, as well as strengthening the deterrent effect.
(6) The Energizing Kowloon East Office of the Development Bureau has been collaborating with the Police since 2018 to conduct a trial on the "Kerbside Loading and Unloading Bay Monitoring System" in Kwun Tong. The two departments are also studying the implementation of a trial on "Illegal Parking Monitoring System" at suitable road sections in Kowloon East. The trial, which makes use of video analytic techniques to monitor illegal parking activities, is expected to commence within this year.
The Government's objective is to make use of new technologies to assist frontline officers in taking enforcement actions against traffic contraventions and enhance the efficiency of the back-end support process. If the system is proved practicable by the trial, the Government will consider using such systems at suitable locations to facilitate Police's prosecution against traffic offences.
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